The website where the tube was purchased: www.truckcitycbgps.com
http://www.truckcitycbgps.com sells a stand as well for $150 or something which probably has some advantages over mine. If anyone wants any details on the stand I made, let me know.
Other websites using these larger solar tubes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6SNPnnRMOshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zv5u6pvaMZg
On whether it is safe to keep food overnight in the chamber: http://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/28787/can-i-sous-vide-meat-at-a-temperature-between-40f-and-140f-for-more-than-fou
My set-up is essentially a big thermos bottle where the temperatures can usually stay above 135 or 140F overnight (and then some perhaps). Some foods get too mushy or the texture or flavor may be significantly affected. For instance, I scrambled eggs and put them in there overnight and they came out kind of looking like light brown foam and tasted quite bad. Instant oatmeal gets extremely mushy. White rice can get quite mushy. I imagine (haven't tried) that beans would become like refried beans. I like my grits kind of mushy. Some of the noodles in stroganoff I've left overnight have been pretty mushy, but the flavors were still good. So, I guess I'll keep trying different things.
I've had a couple of the small tubes break on me. The first time it was quite loud (almost like a gun shot- maybe not that loud), but the glass didn't really go all over. I think it broke because I had scratched the inside when cleaning it out and the stress at that scratch eventually caused an implosion. I suppose that ideally, a cheap clear polycarbonate covering would make this safer if it got into wide use. Also, as far as using it in the third world, maybe breakage of the tube is the biggest possible problem. I don't suggest letting young kids too close to it. It still seems safer than most set ups of parabolic dishes. I don't think my parabolic trough reflector would ever get high enough to burn anything, but...

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I've had a couple of the small tubes break on me. The first time it was quite loud (almost like a gun shot- maybe not that loud), but the glass didn't really go all over. I think it broke because I had scratched the inside when cleaning it out and the stress at that scratch eventually caused an implosion. I suppose that ideally, a cheap clear polycarbonate covering would make this safer if it got into wide use. Also, as far as using it in the third world, maybe breakage of the tube is the biggest possible problem. I don't suggest letting young kids too close to it. It still seems safer than most set ups of parabolic dishes. I don't think my parabolic trough reflector would ever get high enough to burn anything, but...